I'm Home

I’m up at 6:00 AM today because I have to leave by 8:00 AM. I have my morning coffee on the balcony and quietly say goodbye to Greece. My taxi driver tells me the zoo animals have been moved out to a different zoo where they have more space and just the turtles are left. One mystery solved.

Here is my saga with Air Canada. I called last night (you don’t actually get a person; you have to wait for a call back). This has to be done on my Canadian Sim card, since the Air Canada international number doesn’t work! So, I wait my 3 hours for a call back and get someone on the phone. I’m trying to get upgraded to Business Class. She is very nice and I feel sorry for these operators because Air Canada is messing with so many people, they must have a lot of hostile calls. I ask about switching my seat and she tells me to contact my travel agent. I tell her that Air Canada has locked out my reservation and my travel agent cannot do anything. She tries to access my reservations and she can’t get in either. I am put on hold (again!) while she gets a hold of IT. (We know this is not going to end well, if IT has to get involved) She comes back on line and says that if I want Business Class it will be $4500.00 more, on top of what I have already paid!!!! I explain that I have been trying for a month to do this and I don’t know why I should have to pay todays price for Business, when a month ago it was $1500.00. She says that she is sorry but she can’t do anything else. She told me to get to the airport early and maybe they can do something on their end.

I get to the airport early and am the second person waiting to talk to someone when they open. Just as an aside, I am doing better than the other guy because his Air Canada flight has been cancelled and rebooked for 3 days later. He had to be back at work yesterday.
The counter staff tell me that the flight is now fully booked and I’m screwed. Does anyone think I’m flying Air Canada again????

I pay to get into a lounge because I now have 4 hours to wait for my flight, since they have delayed the flight by another hour. I may get off the ground, I may not.

Well, I got off the ground at 2:30, that is a 1:45 minute delay. I did not get upgraded but at least I have an aisle seat. I do notice that there were empty seats in Premium Economy and Business Class. I’m not peeved, honest! The food is not bad, the service is not bad, the seat is uncomfortable, but it is only for 10 hours, right? I do manage to get up and walk around a bit. I downloaded 2 movies, so I watch those, do some knitting (stop laughing, it goes with me everywhere!).

We make it to Toronto, and we are told that only those with connecting flights are allowed off because TSA can’t handle the numbers of people. Yeah, more time in my seat. After an hour they let off 75 people at a time. I made sure I was number 67! I make it through Customs get my luggage and head out.

I get my limo home and make it home by 7:00 PM. This has been a 17:00 travel day! I’m bushed! I have just enough energy to text the kids and let them know I’m home and then hit the sack.

Trip stats (for those of you who might be interested):
Number of Countries: 3
Number of Day: 30
Number of Footprints: 30
Number of Photos: 322
Number of Kilometers: 18,100
Number of Smiles: Infinite!Read more